Melissa Fadden was 13 when she was last seen in Lowell, Massachusetts, on March 3, 1997. She had a history of running away, which initially led investigators to treat her disappearance as a possible voluntary departure, but she has not been heard from since and remains classified as endangered missing.

A significant development came after a 1999 murder investigation. James Howley, a Lowell man who knew both Melissa and her friend Tabitha Potter, was identified as a suspect in Tabitha’s murder. Howley committed suicide after being questioned, and police later linked him to Tabitha’s death by DNA. Because of his relationship with Melissa, investigators have considered him a person of interest in her disappearance, but no conclusive evidence has tied him to Melissa and she has not been located.

Anyone with information about where Melissa was living, who she associated with in 1997, or contacts who might have seen her after March 3, 1997, is asked to come forward.